Activist in the local food movement, author and restaurant owner

7:30 PM,
Nov. 29, 2008

Alice Waters? Edible Schoolyard program aims to acquaint children with growing food and preparing lunches from it.

Written by

Shari Rudavsky

It all started innocently enough. More than four decades ago, a young Alice Waters returned from a year in France to Berkeley, Calif., with a desire to eat the way she had abroad. Night after night, she invited friends to share her dinners of freshly cooked, local meals.

In 1971, Waters decided to turn this avocation into a vocation and opened the now world-famous Chez Panisse in Berkeley. The restaurant features a single, fixed-price menu that changes daily -- almost as if you're eating in the home of a close friend who happens to be an exceedingly good cook.